


I Can't Get Bi Without You

by maliciouslycreative



Series: Just Getting Bi [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Aromantic Dean, Awkward Conversations, Awkward Flirting, Friends to Lovers, Humor, Mechanic Dean, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Drug Use, Polyamory, Porn Star Dean, Professor Castiel, Programmer Inias, Slow Burn, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-24
Updated: 2017-09-20
Packaged: 2018-09-01 20:31:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8637079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maliciouslycreative/pseuds/maliciouslycreative
Summary: Inias and Castiel have been best friends for as far back as they can remember. They've pretty much been to hell and back and they'd do anything for each other. Sure Castiel's dated a lot of guys over the years but most of them were fleeting and barely lasted for more than a few weeks. So why should Dean Winchester be any different? Except apparently he is and now things between him and Cas may be getting a little serious. It shouldn't bother Inias. It really shouldn't but he can't help but feel that he's losing his best friend. Except maybe best friend isn't the right term any more. He'd like to hate Dean, it would make everything easier. But the more he gets to know Dean the more he sees why Cas is falling for him. This poses the question of what do you do when your best friend, who ok you may be a little in love with, is falling for the only other man that you may have feelings for?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This started off with me going "what would it be like to write a Destiel fic from the pov of not Dean or Cas?" and then it grew to me going "oh shit, Inias and Cas are in love with each other. Oh well, I guess this is gonna be a polyamory fic"
> 
> Thanks to [rosemoonweaver](http://rosemoonweaver.tumblr.com/) for always being encouraging and super awesome. I was super angsty about even writing this fic but she convinced me to just go for it.
> 
> This isn't beta read so I apologise for any errors. Anything serious let me know and I will fix it asap.

The first time Inias encounters the Impala he is  already having a spectacularly awful day. The coffee machine at home had finally given up on life. Without Coffee Castiel can barely be counted as a human being. With the promise of Starbucks Inias had eventually lured Castiel into the world of the living and the two had only been marginally late. He’d then been flung into countless meetings with database administrators. Dealing with DBAs was a level of torment somewhere between having Christmas dinner with his judgemental, condescending family and having dental work done by a blind person with severe turrets.

Of course, this was the day that Castiel had asked Inias to pick him up at his building since he had several books he needed to take home. Inias has a parking spot about a 10-minute walk away on the other side of campus at which the two would usually meet to head home for the day. So here he is circling the parking lot next to the arts building cursing all the students that are still on campus at 4:48 on a Tuesday. He finally catches sight of a large white truck pulling out of the far side of the lot. With a curse he gunned it in hopes of getting there before someone else would. As luck would have it a giant best of a black car slinks into the spot and turns off its engine. He curses under his breath because the spot was really close to the door.

With a reserved sigh Inias pulled out of the arts parking lot and pulled into the next nearest one. He found a spot near the middle and sighed again, this would have to do.

\-----

The second time he encounters the Impala it is raining like crazy. The wipers on Inias’ little PT Cruiser were wiping so furiously he was worried they are just going to snap off and fly away in the gale force winds. The power had winked out about 5 minutes ago in his building so he’d decided to call it quits early. Not much you can do with a computer if you have no power. Castiel’s building still has power but Castiel’s patience has long since run out and he is anxious to escape.

Inias finds a spot almost immediately in the parking lot that is remarkably close to the door. The problem being is that it is at best ¾ of a spot. It was probable that he could maneuver his car in there but whether or not he could open the doors was another story. He wants to blame the Impala with its huge frame hanging over the line but it is most likely that the problem started with the red Honda Civic parked diagonally three cars down.

A skinny Asian guy not wearing a jacket darts in front of his car and hastily clambers into a beat up Saturn with its bumper held on mostly by duct tape. With a sigh of relief Inias backed up to allow the guy to pull out of his spot. If he ran from here it would only be about a minute sprint. Good enough.

After crashing through the doors Inias shook out his umbrella. With all the wind it had really done nothing more than awkwardly whip his arms around in the rain. He let out a violent shiver. Yah, Castiel was right, he should have brought a jacket. But it had been so warm this morning with clear skies. Inias sighs and starts trudging to the coffee shop, his shoes squelching the whole way.

When he gets to the front of the counter the cashier’s smile brightens considerably. “I take it the weather’s only getting worse out there, Inias?”

Leaning on the counter Inias smiles, “Yah Margaret, it’s turning into quite the storm. My building’s lost power but seems like most of the campus is still ok.”

“That’s a shame. Suppose that’s why everyone’s been stopping by so early today. I’m assuming you want your regular? Though I’m sorry we’ve just run out of Danishes.”

Inias glances down at the display case and sure enough there were no Danishes left. Chewing on his lip Inias considered his remaining options. “I guess a couple gingersnaps then?”

Margaret nods and finishes ringing up his order. As Inias pays for his treats Margaret goes about making a large tea and black coffee. “If I’d known you would be here today I would’ve saved a Danish for you. This charming young man came through just a few minutes before you and bought all that I had left.”

“I guess I’ll just have to be here earlier next time.” Inias shoots Margaret a brilliant smile as he accepts the bag of cookies and two drinks. “Have a good evening and drive safe.”

“You as well!” Margaret waves at him as he heads off towards Castiel’s office.

Being a young and rather new professor Castiel had been shoved in a cramped dingy office in the far corner of the history department. In order to get to said office he has to go down a narrow staircase and what the two friends have deemed a “murder hallway” since it was dark and half the lights seemed to flicker. All it is missing is a torch or two and some chains on the wall.  Inias is awkwardly reaching for the door to the murder hallway when it swings open, nearly bowling him over.

The shorter of the two men manages to grab the door just before it hits him. “Shit, sorry, man.”

“It’s alright, not the first time I’ve nearly been hit by that door.” Inias smiles kindly at them.

“Here, I’ll just get out of the way,” The taller of the men moves through the door then holds it open so Inias could pass through.

“Thanks.” Inias smiled at the two men as he heads down the hallway.

When he finally manages to shoulder Castiel’s office door open he’s met by his friend hastily shoving what looked to be ½ of a Danish into his mouth. Castiel shoots him an apologetic look as he hastily tries to chew and swallow his treat.

“So I guess I didn’t need to bring you any snacks?” Inias holds up the paper bag containing the cookies.

“Sorry,” Castiel wipes a small bit of icing off of his bottom lip. “Dean surprised me with a Danish.” At Inias’s questioning look Castiel elaborates with, “That’s Sam’s older brother.”

“Sam, as in the grad student that is essentially the embodiment of a couple dozen puppies transformed into an extremely tall man with majestic hair?” Inias thinks back to the men he’d just met in the hallway. Yah, now that he htinks about it the taller one did have vaguely majestic long hair. “Shit, I bet that Dean guy is the one that bought all the Danishes!”

At the exclamation Castiel looked a little guilty. “I may have eaten two… or three.”

Shaking his head Inias finally offers the black coffee to his friend. “Let’s get out of here. I don’t fancy being in that murder hallway if the power goes out.”

\-----

The third time Inias encounters the Impala his day’s going pretty good. He hadn’t had to suffer through a single meeting and he’d even found a $5 bill on the sidewalk. Of course he should have known that parking next to the Impala was just inviting disaster. As soon as he opens his door a gust of wind rips it out of his grip and it flies into the door of the Impala. All the colour drains from his face as he stares at the two doors in horror. Considering how immaculate and shiny the impala looks it is obvious that the owner cares a great deal about their car.

Slowly Inias climbs out of his car and pulls his door away from the Impala. There is the tiniest of scratches in the metal but no dent. Thank god for these old cars being made out of metal. He leans back into his car and begins rooting around in his glove box for a scrap of paper and a pen. He hastily writes out a note stating his name and phone number with a “sorry the wind ripped my door out of my hand and now there’s a scratch on your door.” With a resigned sigh he slips it under the driver side wiper and heads into the building to retrieve Castiel.

When the two friends make it back to Inias’ car the Impala is long gone and there is a note stuck under Inias’ driver side wiper. Grabbing the note Inias scans over it. “No worries man, shit happens. Your left taillight is cracked, if you need it fixed come down to Singer Salvage and Restoration and I’ll give you a deal since you seem like a decent person.”

At the perplexed look Inias is giving the note Castiel asks, “What’s up?”

“I may have accidentally scratched the paint on the behemoth of a car that was parked next to me. The guy left a note saying not to worry and that I should come by his auto repair shop because my taillight is cracked.”

Castiel raises an eyebrow. “Big black 1967 Impala?”

“Yah, how’d you know?”

Chuckling Castiel gets into the car. “It’s Dean’s car. He’s dropped me off a couple times at your office when he’s come to pick up Sam. He’s a mechanic and restores classic cars in his spare time.”

Getting into the driver’s side and turning on the car Inias galnces over at Castiel. “You seem to be spending a lot of this Dean guy, anything I should know about?”

Castiel laughs. “No, I hardly see him more than a few minutes each week. I spend a lot of time with Sam since he’s one of the TAs for my first year class. Dean may be drop dead gorgeous but I don’t want to make things weird.”

“I’m impressed, Cas. That’s a lot of restraint for you.”

Castiel rolls his eyes. “I don’t immediately try to hop into bed with every man I declare drop dead gorgeous.”

This time it was Inias’ turn to roll his eyes. “So what you’re saying is if you don’t know if he’s into dudes yet.”

With a sigh Castiel shakes his head. “No, not yet. Sam’s always there and as I mentioned I don’t want to make anything awkward.”

“You could just ask Sam?”

There is a moment of silence before Castiel lets out a soft chuckle. “I suppose I could. Thanks for the suggestion.”

“Don’t mention it,” Inias grins. “Someone’s gotta look out for you.”

\----

The first time Inias actually gets to meet the elusive owner of the Impala is wholly unexpected. It’s Halloween and somehow he’s found himself at a company Halloween party for Gabriel’s gay porn website.  Inias isn’t gay. He’s not even bi.

Ok so yah he’s kissed two guys in his life but neither of them really count. The first had been when he and Castiel were both 14. The two were holed up in Castiel’s room reading comic books when Castiel had suddenly blurted out that he thought he was kinda gay or maybe bi or something and he just really wanted to a kiss a boy. After some talking the two friends had decided to try kissing each other. The kiss was barely two seconds but had been overwhelmingly uncomfortable for both boys so they had agreed to continue being best friends and just never talk about it again.

The second kiss came nearly a decade later when Inias’ engagement to Anna had been broken off. The two friends had gone out to drink heavily at a bar. The two of them were both obscenely trashed when Castiel had gone off to do unspeakable things with a charming British man in the bathroom and had left Inias to his own devices. A twink had then approached Inias and in his inebriated state he was unable to tell that the other young man was propositioning him until he found himself with 100 pounds of horny twink in his lap and a tongue in his mouth. Inias likes to think that he gently let the guy down but he was so drunk he’s still not entirely sure. The night had gone downhill after that and ended in him going home with a random woman and getting chlamydia. They didn’t talk about that night either.

Regardless, here Inias is standing awkwardly next to his best friend with countless gay and bi men hitting on the both of them.  Castiel had decided that they should dress as angels since it would match their namesakes. Thus, Inias is wearing a white shirt, dress slacks and big fluffy white wings while Castiel has on a black button down, dress slacks, and fluffy charcoal wings. The two of them are also covered in glitter since everything at this party seemed to be supersaturated in glitter. Inias is pretty sure he’s never seen so much glitter in his life. He’s pretty sure that he’s going to be sneezing glitter for the next month. He fucking hated glitter.

Inias has just leaned in closer to ask if Castiel wanted another drink when he’s slammed into from behind. All of a sudden he’s pressed up against Castiel with arms around his waist and his nose in Castile’s messy dark hair. He stands stunned for a few seconds, inhaling the warm fruity scent of Castiel’s shampoo.

Before Inias can even disentangle himself to say anything rude to the man that shoved him Castiel blurts out, “Dean?” Castiel’s mouth dropped open as he stared at the barely clothed man in front of them. Inias pulls away slightly from Castiel but still stays pressed up against his side.

The man, apparently named Dean, is wearing brown chaps slung so low they look like they could fall off at any second, cowboy boots and a black Stetson and no shirt. Like everything else at the party he is also absolutely coated in glitter. The cowboy’s eyes widen as he locked eyes with Castiel. “Holy shit, Cas?” He grins and eyes Castiel and then Inias up. “So you didn’t tell me you had a boyfriend.”

“Umm, we’re not…” Inias’ cheeks redden and he steps away from Castiel slightly.

“Oh, I suppose you’ve never been properly introduced. Dean, this is Inias McMorran.” He gestures at Inias. “Inias, this is Dean Winchester.”

“Nice to meet you” both Inias and Dean say as they shake hands.

“So,” Dean licks his lips as he eyes Castiel up once again. “What’s a nice guy like you doing in a place like this?”

Castiel laughs. “Well, Gabe always invites me to these pa-”

“Caaaaasie!” Arms are flung around both Inias and Castiel’s shoulders and they are nearly pulled to the ground. “I can’t believe you actually came.” Gabriel screams into their ears. He’s painted gold head to toe and there is a crown sitting haphazardly atop his head.

“Hello, Gabe.” Castiel gingerly tries to pry Gabriel’s arm from around his shoulders but task is made hard by how tightly Gabriel is clutching him. After a few failed attempts Castiel sighs and lets Gabriel do as he wants.

“I shee you found Deanie!” Gabriel tries to point at Dean but since his arm is slung around Inias’ neck all he does is jerk Inias forward.

“Yes, Dean and I know each other through my work.”

“Awwwww.” Gabriel pouts up at Castiel. “I wanted to play cupid.” He opens his mouth to say something more but the song switches to something quieter and all of a sudden Gabriel is yelling “I LIKE GERMAN SPARKLE PARTY” Gabriel releases Castiel and Inias and bounds off into the middle of the dance floor.

“What the hell was he even dressed as?” Castiel gestures at Gabriel as he tries to climb up onto the small stage where the DJ is.

“I had to ask him that myself… apparently, he’s King Midas.” Dean shrugs.

“Does he realise that Midas turned things to gold, not that he was made of gold?” Castiel shakes his head as he watches Gabriel fall off the stage then jump back up giving everyone a thumbs up to let them know he’s ok.

Inias snorts. “Gabe just marches to the beat of his own drum. Trying to tell him that would just escalate things, Cas. Remember the butt plug-”

“Nope.” Castiel slaps a hand over Inias’ mouth. “We’re never speaking of that incident again, remember?

“Wait, what happened?” Dean asks.

“It’s how Gabe met his wife.” Inias tries to say more but Castiel shoves a couple fingers in Inias’ mouth to keep him from talking. Scowling Inias pries Castiel’s hand away from his mouth.

“Wait, you guys know how he met his wife? I’ve known him for like 6 years and he would never tell me the story.”

“I’m surprised my brother-”

“WAIT.” Dean’s eyes go wide and his arms fly up in a wait gesture. “You.” He gestures at Cas and opens and closes his mouth a few times. “Dude, you’re Gabe’s brother?”

“Unfortunately.” Castiel grunts.

“Holy shit.” Dean goes silent as he seems to be contemplating something.

‘Wait, how do you know Gabe?” Castiel finally asks.

Dean’s head snaps back up and he stares at Castiel like a deer in the headlights. He nervously glances between Inias and Castiel until he finally locks eyes with Castiel and swallows uncomfortably.

Tired of the awkward staring contest Inias finally asks “You work for- you’re a porn star, aren’t you?” Both Dean and Castiel break up their staring match to instead stare at Inias in horror.

“Yah, I…” Dean steps back slightly and crosses his arm over his chest to assume a more defensive stance. “I’ve been working for him since I was 18. Not like a high school dropout with more sass than sense has got many options for employment.”

The amount of shame showing on Dean’s face, even in the dim lighting, is enough to turn Inias stomach. He’s about to step in and say something, anything really, when Castiel steps forward and lays a hand on Dean’s shoulder. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of. We’ve all been through tough times and done whatever we needed to survive. There are far worse things than becoming a successful porn star. I happen to like porn a great deal.

As awkward as the words are it seems to comfort Dean somewhat and he offers Castiel a weak smile. “Well that’s great, I happen to be pretty fond of it too.”

Unable to handle what awkward flirting is coming next Inias loudly asks, “So do either of you want a drink?” Both Dean and Castiel shake their head no. “Cool, I’ll be right back.” Inias more or less flees to the bar. He’s just about to order a drink when someone slaps his ass really hard. He spins around to find Gabriel giving him a shit eating grin.

“I neeeeeeed you, Inny!” Gabriel yells and wraps an arm around Inias’ forearm to try to drag him through the party.

“Please don’t call me Inny…” Inias mutters weakly as he tries his best to run into as few people as possible as he is dragged through the crowd.

“Need an angel!” Gabriel yells as he drags Inias onto the small stage. There are a couple of seconds of no music after the last song ends and a new song begins

_I wish I had an angel_

_For one moment of love_

_I wish I had your angel tonight_

As embarrassing as dancing in front of everyone is it’s slightly more bearable than the awkward flirting that is no doubt happening between Dean and Castiel. Inias throws caution to the wind and dances on stage with Gabriel for a few songs before he is whisked away by an incredibly attractive drag queen dressed as Jessica Rabbit. Yah Inias is not gay but damn, sometimes sexual orientation means nothing when someone’s this attractive.

Inias spends the rest of the night on the dance floor or downing whatever shots are offered to him. It’s nearly three hours later that Inias finally finds Castiel. He’s somehow gained devil horns, one of his wings is bent, and he is probably more drunk than Inias has seen him since they were in college. They somehow get into the taxi cab and home without incident and after stripping off most of their clothes the tumble into their own beds to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So anyway, like 9 months later... SURPRISE. *throws confetti* This is like half of what I'd originally planned for this chapter. It got out of hand. Like everything I write.

It’s nearly noon when Castiel finally stumbles into the kitchen his hair a complete mess, clothes dishevelled, and glitter still decorating his skin. Inias wrinkles his nose and asks, “Dude have you even showered?”

Castiel frowns and glances over his clothing. “Umm…”

Rolling his eyes Inias grabs Castiel’s favourite mug from the cupboard and sets it in the Keurig. “Gross. I’m gonna give you some coffee then you are hitting the shower.”

“Sure.” Castiel slumps into a chair, gently lays his head on the table and puts an arm over his eyes. Yah he is definitely hungover.

“Where did you even get to after those guys dressed as the Village People started dancing on the refreshment table?” the only response Inias gets is a grunt. With a shrug Inias pops a pod into the Keurig and hits brew before he goes about unloading the still steaming dishes from the dishwasher. “Usually when you’re that drunk you wind up sleeping it off in my bed.” Inias is met with another grunt in response. With a sigh he grabs the now full coffee cup and nudges Castiel’s arm gently with it. “You know it’s ok if you went off and fooled around with Dean. You’re a big boy, you can do what you like.”

Castiel sits up abruptly and would have spilled the full mug of coffee had Inias not still been holding on to it. “No, it’s not like that.” At seeing the grin on Inias’ face he calmed slightly. “It’s… it’s complicated.”

Inias shrugs and goes back to unloading the dishes. “Just saying it’s been a while since you dated anyone. You seem to like this guy. I know you got a thing about not wanting to date anyone that works for Gabriel but you knew him before you knew he was a porn star so maybe you can make an exception this time.”

“I don’t know…” Castiel stares into his coffee cup as if it holds all the answers.

“Ok so if it’s not the Gabriel thing then what is it? You seemed pretty into him when we were discussing him a few weeks ago.”

Castiel shrugs and begins sipping his coffee. “The more I think about it the more it feels kind of weird. I’m working so closely with his brother, what if things go bad and then things with Sam get awkward? As much as Sam and I get along he’s going to be on Dean’s side of any argument.”

“But isn’t Sam only working with you until the end of next term? So just wait until March to start dating him and just get to know him in the meantime.”

“I guess.” Castiel sets down his half empty mug. “I’m going to shower and think on this.”

\-------------

Before he even realises it November has run into December and here Inias is, braving Walmart on December 23rd because he needs a goddamn can of cherry pie filling and the grocery store is wiped clean. He’s standing in front of the pie filling carefully inspecting two different cans to see which one might make a better pie when he hears his name called. Startled, he nearly drops the can in his left hand and he spins around to lock eyes with Anna. Oh hell no he’s not doing this right now. He tries to do a subtle glance around to see if there’s an escape route but unfortunately it looks like he’s going to have to make up something on the fly.

“It’s good to see you, Inias.” Anna smiles kindly. “It’s been a while.”

It’s been a while is an understatement. It’s been at least 3 years since he’s seen her and a good 7 since she’d broken off their engagement. Once upon a time she’d been one of Inias and Cas’ best friends. The three of them had been near inseparable. Then Anna had gone off to a fancy art school after graduation. Inias had been crushed since he’d always wanted to ask her out but had never had the nerve. However after only 2 years away she’d moved back and refused to talk about what had changed her mind.

“Hello, Anna.” Inias forces a smile. “You look… good.”

Anna’s smile widens slightly which makes his heart ache a little. God does he miss that beautiful smile. “You look good too. I see you’re on pie duty?” She gestures to the cans in his hands.

“Yah. You know my family; you make something one year and if people like it you wind up being stuck making it every year for the rest of your life.”

“I have to admit; I really miss that apple cranberry one you used to make.”

The admission makes Inias’ stomach do a flip flop. He hadn’t made that particular pie since Anna broke off their engagement. It had been the pie that he made only for her and it had never felt right to make it again. He’d tried once. He’d had the ingredients all set out but he couldn’t bring himself to go through with it. Cas had found him an hour later curled up on the couch with a tub of half melted ice cream, watching Chopped, and crying.

“Heya, Inias.” And oh fuck it was bad enough seeing Anna but there _she_ is. Ruby grins at Inias as she slides a hand around Anna’s waist. As it turned out the big thing that made Anna run away from art school was an identity crisis and subsequent epic blowout with her girlfriend, Ruby. Inias and Anna had been a little over three months away from their wedding when Ruby had shown up, begging Anna to forgive her.

“Hello, Ruby.” Inias takes a calming breath before saying, “I’m surprised to see you two here. I thought you two always went on grand adventures for Christmas.”

“Well we were thinking of Paris this year but then something came up.” Ruby grins and gently cups Anna’s stomach.

Completely confused, Inias waits for Ruby to elaborate but she never does Frowning he looks both women over again until his eyes settle on Ruby’s hand on Anna’s stomach and _oh._ Inias chews on his bottom lip while he contemplated how to handle this. “Congratulations?”

“Thank you.” Anna absolutely beams. “I’m due in May but we wanted to have one last quiet Christmas with my family before everything becomes too hectic.”

“That’s really great.” Thankfully Inias’ phone chooses that minute to vibrate in his pocket several times in quick succession. With relief he sets the cans of pie filling he was still holding on the shelf so he can dig out his phone and see who was texting him.

Cas: gab wants me2 doa pronp

Cas: he is offrring me big $$$$

Cas: aprnetly autofelatio sin de mnd

Cas: prob tmi

Cas: drunkjing rn

“What the fuck...” Inias mutters as he stares at his phone. Yah, he wants an escape from this conversation but honestly dealing with whatever Gabe drama is happening right now isn’t any more appealing. With a sigh he puts his phone back in his pocket and turns his attention back to Anna and Ruby. “It was nice seeing you but I gotta head home, Cas has a crisis…”

“Oh, are you two dating?” Anna seems to perk up at this.

“What, no. We just live together… as best friends.” He starts trying to back away because he wants out of this conversation so bad.

Ruby snorts. “Of course you two are.”

If it were anyone else than Ruby Inias would totally try to set the record straight. But there was no way he was arguing this again with Ruby. Last time the two had nearly come to blows and that was the last thing he wanted to happen on December 23rd in the baking aisle of a crowded Walmart.

“Well it was great seeing you two.” Inias plasters a giant false smile on his face. “Maybe I’ll see you around?” The two women nod and agree and Inias turns to make a hasty escape.

“Oh, Inias!” Anna yells after him. With a sigh, he glances over his shoulder at her. “Don’t forget your pie filling.”

Sheepishly Inias slinks back to the pie filling section, grabs one of the cherry pie filings at random then starts heading towards the checkouts. “Thanks, Anna. Hope to see you around!’

Anna says something but Inias is moving so fast that he doesn’t quite catch it in the busy store.

Nearly an hour later Inias finally stumbles through the front door. The lineups at Walmart had been a thing of nightmares and then the roads home hadn’t been any better. “Hey”, he grunts at Castiel who is lounging on the couch watching Food Network. He slams his bags on the counter and then grabs a bottle of beer from the fridge and pops off the cap on the counter top.

“A little early for that, don’t you think?” Castiel points at the bottle and quirks an eyebrow.

“You’re one to talk, you texted me that you were already drinking.” He glances at the microwave clock and notes that it’s just past 2. He shrugs and chugs a large portion of the beer anyway. “I ran into Anna.” Castiel makes a sour face at the mention of Anna’s name. “And Ruby. And guess what? Anna’s pregnant.”

“Jesus.” Castiel grabs a beer for himself from the fridge and Joins Inias in leaning against the kitchen counter. “Do you want to talk about it?”

After a moment Inias sighs and leans his head back against one of the cabinets. “not really.” The two stand in silence for another couple moments before Inias sighs again. “It’s been so long and yah I don’t begrudge her for doing what was right for her. It’s just… fuck.” A hand lays on Inias’ shoulder and squeezes it gently. He looks up and gives Castiel a weak smile.

“It just sucks because you really loved her.”

“Yah.” Inias smiles sadly and starts picking at the label to his beer bottle.

“Well if you want I can pretend to be your boyfriend next time we run into her.”

Inias snorts and shakes his head. “I think that would just make it worse. She actually asked if we were dating.”

This time it’s Castiel’s turn to snort. “I don’t know where she would get that idea.” The tone is sarcastic but something in the way Castiel says it shoots off some warning bells in Inias’ head. “Anyway, we going to sit around and sulk and drink bear or are we going to get these pies made?”

“Oh no, you’re not getting anywhere near these pies. They need to be edible for Christmas.” Inias sets down his now empty beer and begins getting ready to make the pies.

“Hey, I am highly proficient in some aspects of pie making. Like opening cans or stirring things.” Inias shoots Castiel a wary look. “Ok, so stirring things with a spoon not an electric mixer.”

“Alright then, spoon boy. Grab me a large mixing bowl and a spoon and let’s put those arms of yours to work.”

“You just want me for my gloriously toned arms.”

Inias rolls his eyes and points to the cupboard. “Bowl. Spoon. Or get out of my kitchen.”

With a mock salute Castiel goes about grabbing the required utensils. “Aye, aye, captain.”

\------

It’s just past one on Christmas day when the two of them finally manage to make it out of the house. Inias had woken with an overwhelming sense of foreboding so perhaps had been dragging his feet more than was strictly necessary. When he turns the corner on this his parent’s street and spots their large house in the centre of the cul de sac he abruptly slams on the breaks. Castiel drops his phone and starts swearing profusely.

“What the fuck?” Castiel hisses as he retrieves his phone from the floor.

Unable to form the words Inias points at his parents’ house. Parked right out front is an impossibly shiny red 1968 Pontiac Firebird.

Upon seeing the car Castiel swears even more. “I swear I didn’t know the Miltons were coming.”

“I can’t believe my mother wouldn’t tell me!”

He’s having a huge mental debate when a black Kia Forte darts around him. He glances over just in time to lock eyes with Anna in the passenger seat and well he’s completely fucked now. There’s no way he can go home and tell his mom that his car wouldn’t start and that he couldn’t make it to Christmas. Yah she’d eventually have someone come over and retrieve him and Castiel but at least he’d have time to get pleasantly wasted first.

Inias inhales deeply to calm his nerves then proceeds to drive down the street and park beside his sister’s car on the driveway. Castiel starts to say something but Inias holds up a hand to stop him. “Just… just grab the pies from the back seat.”

“Sure thing,” Castiel nods and gets out of the car to grab the pies from the back.

Mustering all of his nerves (which have somehow turned into a flock of crazed bats) Inias gets out of the car and greets Anna and Ruby who are getting presents out of their trunk.

“Everything ok? You were kind of stopped in the middle of the road…” Anna asks him.

“Yah, I’ve just been having trouble with…. Uhh… the schlond poofa,” He can hear Castiel making a choking coughing sound behind him. “Yah, it’s been making funny noises and I thought I heard something so I stopped.”

“Well, I hope there’s nothing seriously wrong with your… car.” Anna smiles. “Oh, if you remember my cousin Gadreel, he’s really good with cars.”

“I actually have a friend who is a mechanic.” Castiel shoots both women a dazzling smile. “And he’s an expert in schlond poofas.”

“well this shit is heavy, let’s get it inside then we can discuss whatever.” Ruby says as she somehow manages to slam the car trunk shut with her arms full of presents. Anna tries to grab some of the items burdening her wife but Ruby just shoos her and tells her to open the door.

When the women are finally out of earshot Castiel punches Inias’ shoulder and hisses out, “Schlond poofa? What the fuck?”

“I panicked!” Inias hisses back.

“Well, go grab the presents from the trunk, Ken.”

Inias makes an offended face at Castiel. “I am not above punching you in the face so that we have to go to the hospital instead of enduring Christmas with my family.”

Castiel chuckles and starts heading to the front door. “You wouldn’t dare. I’m holding your precious pies.” Castiel is completely right, there is no way Inias would endanger his precious pies.

Muttering to himself Inias pops open the trunk and grabs the laundry basket full of presents.” All he’s got to do is make it through dinner which should be around five and then he and Cas can bail and go to Gabriel’s party. He can’t believe that he’s actually looking forward to going to Gabriel’s party.

When he makes it into the house he is greeted by his niece wrapping her arms around his legs. “Merry Christmas, Uncle Inias!”

“Hey, Hael.” Inias awkwardly glances around to see where he can set down the basket of presents so that he can properly hug his niece.

Castiel, seeming to take pity on him comes closer but instead scoops up Hael in his arms. “C’mon, peanut. Let’s let uncle Inias take off his coat.” The two of them head off to the living room to join the rest of the family.

Inias rolls his eyes at Castiel’s back and sets the basket of presents down on the ground. By the time he’s gotten all of his outerwear off he’s completely alone in the foyer. He grabs the presents and takes a deep breath to calm his nerves. He can totally do this.

-x-x-x-

They sit down to dinner late, it’s nearly 5:30 and Inias is about 4 glasses of eggnog past tipsy. Admittedly his mother makes the eggnog with a disappointingly low amount of rum. The only saving grace is that the Miltons brought a few bottles of wine and Inias had had a few glasses of wine before hitting the eggnog. Castiel had regretfully agreed to be the designated driver tonight after finding out that Anna would be there. Castiel eyes his glass of Sprite with distaste as he sits down next to Ruby.

As if constant talk of Anna and Ruby’s future child wasn’t agony enough there had been an excessive amount of invasive questions about Inias’ dating life and when he was going to settle down. Usually Hael, who was now 7, would try to monopolize his time by constantly playing with him but even she had turned on him. With big eyes asked when he was going to get married so she could have a little cousin to play with.

“The food looks so delicious. You really did an amazing job, Rachael.” Anna says and smiles at Inias’ mother. There is a chorus of agreement from everyone at the table.

Inias starts to grab for one of the rolls sitting in front of him but Castiel kicks him in the ankle. He turns and is about to chew Castiel out but the glare he’s met with gives Inias pause.

“Would you like to say grace, Raechel or shall I?” Mr Milton asks from the other end of the table.

“I think it’d be lovely if you would, Richard.” Raechel says.

Oh right, grace. Inias lets out a sigh then takes Raechel’s and Castiel’s hands before bowing his head to half heartedly listen to grace. It takes Mr. Milton nearly 10 minutes to say everything he wants to (which is mostly about how grateful he is for his first grandchild to be born in the spring) and by the end Inias isn’t sure who looks more anxious to start eating him or his six year old niece.

When they finally get to dig in Inias is almost vibrating with nervous energy. Maybe if he occupies himself with eating then people will leave him alone. The strategy works for almost ten minutes until Rachel turns her attention to Castiel.

“I talked with your mother the other day, Castiel. Did you know that she is retiring in the spring?” Rachael says, completely unaware of the turmoil she is causing Castiel.

At the mention of his mother Castiel goes impossibly rigid. “No, I haven’t talked to my mother in a while.” He says through gritted teeth. “I imagine she’s quite excited.”

Inias catches Castiel eyeing his wine glass so he silently slides it in front of his friend who quickly downs it. Mrs. Milton shoots Castiel an unimpressed look but he is oblivious to it as he grabs for the wine bottle so he can have a second glass.

“Oh yes, she thinks that she may start volunteering at the library.”

“Oh good, so she can tell all the children how reading Harry Potter is akin to worshipping Satan.” Castiel is now gripping his wine glass so tightly his knuckles are turning white. Inias gently lays a hand on his knee and rubs soothing circles into it.

“Don’t be like that, she has changed quite a bit. You would know that if only you would give her a chance, dear.” Rachael says, annoyance slowly creeping into her voice.

“I’ll consider it.” Castiel says icily.

This seems to appease Rachael and she turns to Hester to quietly discuss something about Hael’s school year so far. The next several moments is filled with quiet conversations and Inias and Castiel start to relax a little. They’re almost free; dinner’s almost done then there’s some pie and then they can escape.

Rachael turns to Inias and stares at him for a moment before saying, “We would accept you even if you decided to date a man or one of those transsexuals.”

Inias drops his fork in his potatoes as his head whips up to stare at his mother. “What? I’m not – you can’t!” he sputters.

“It’s trans, not transsexual.” Cas says

Rachael lets out a sigh. “Of course. There are so many terms these days. It’s so hard to keep track of them.”

“It was transgender for quite a while before it even was trans...” Castiel grumbles as he pours more wine into his glass.

Inias fishes his fork out of his potatoes and wipes it off on his napkin. Maybe if he just ignores this conversation it will go away. However his brother in law decides to contribute to the conversation.

“We have a new pastor at the church.” Bartholemew says.

“Yes, he’s very inclusive of the L G B and T.” Rachael says, looking proud that she got all four of the letters right. Castiel hides the face he makes behind his wine glass.

“What happened to father Zachariah?” Castiel asks. He doesn’t really care since Zachariah is a dick and one of the happiest days of Inias’ life was when he decided to stop going to church.

“Oh, it was very tragic. He got throat cancer hand had to have his voice box removed. He’s fine now but decided to retire for his health.” Rachael says

“What a tragedy.” Castiel says, voice drier than the red wine. Inias kicks him under the table and shoots him a quick glare to which Castiel just rolls his eyes.

Completely oblivious to their silent discussion Hester smiles at Inias and Castiel and says, “You two should think about going to church again.”

“No thank you.” Castiel scoffs.

“You would find it so much more welcoming though,” Hester’s eyes seem to light up more with every word she says. “And the congregation would be so delighted to get to know someone who’s gay.”

Castiel lets out a long-suffering sigh. “First of all, I’m pansexual homoromantic. Secondly, in case you’d forgotten, last time I was still involved with the church I was swallowing handfuls of pills like they were candy and buying weed from a guy named Sonny behind the Denny’s. And we all know how great that turned out.” Castiel pushes his chair back and it scrapes loudly across the floor. He sets his napkin over his mostly finished plate and stalks out of the room.

Inias levels his family with a glare before placing his own napkin on his plate and following Castiel out of the room. He finds Castiel aggressively rummaging through the coat closet. Since he doesn’t really know what to say he blurts out the first thing that comes to mind, “I’m sorry.”

Castiel’s shoulders slump and he sighs. “It’s not your fault.”

“Do you wanna head out?” Inias asks.

Castiel pulls his jacket from the hanger and turns around. “No, I just... I just need to take a walk. You enjoy your pie. I’ll try to see if I can get a cab to take us to Gabe’s.”

“Sure, and” Inias bites his lip, “You need anything you call, OK?”

“Of course.” Cas gives him a soft smile before he starts donning his outerwear. He gives Inias one more smile before he’s out the door and Inias is left alone in the foyer.

Inias lets out a sigh and heads for the kitchen to start warming up the pies.. He kind of wants to sneak through the house, grab his and Cas’ presents, and make a break for it but he also really wants some pie. With a sigh he turns on the oven and goes about unpacking the pies. Unfortunately unpacking the pies takes very little time and Inias is left standing awkwardly in the kitchen. He really should wait for the oven to fully preheat to stick them in but he’s feeling impatient so he slides them in anyway. He sets a timer on his phone so that he doesn’t space out and accidentally burn the pies.

“I’m sorry about dinner... is Cas ok?”

Inias jumps slightly and spins around to see Anna on the other side of the kitchen island. He lets out a breath before saying, “It’s fine. It’s not your fault. And Cas’ fine. He just needed a breather.”

Anna smiles and nods. She opens her mouth as if to say something then closes it and frowns. “Also...” Anna picks at the sleeve of her sweater. She looks like she wants to be anywhere but here. “I’m sorry that I’ve made today so uncomfortable for you.”

Inias lets out another sigh. “Also, not your fault.”

Anna smiles and shakes her head. “We never really worked through things after... I just kind of left and that was it. And here I am barging back into your life on Christmas of all days.” She stares down at the counter while she twirls a few strands of hair around her finger. “Because I’m here everyone was giving you such a hard time about getting your life together” She lets the hair slide from her finger so she can do finger quotes during “getting your life together”

Inias snorts and shakes his head. “It’s not just because you’re here. It seems that every family gathering the main topic of discussion is my love life, or lack there of.”

“Is it because – did you not date again because-”

“No!” Inias cuts her off. “I just...” He sighs. “I was just never big into dating. I want a best friend first and lover second. So sitting in a restaurant eating overpriced pasta with a stranger just never really went well. For a while there was something but he...” Anna’s eyes light up at the mention of a he but Inias shakes his head. “He came out as trans while we were dating and decided to move back to his hometown because his mother got real sick. We still text each other sometimes but Han has a new boyfriend and we’ve both moved on in our lives.”

“You’re so sweet,” Anna sniffs and tears start to pool at the corners of her eyes.

“Hey, don’t cry.” Inias moves around the kitchen island and wraps her up his arms. He probably should have asked first but god could he never stand to see her cry. They stand for a few minutes, just holding each other while Anna sniffles occasionally.

“God you must hate me.” Anna sniffles into his shoulder. “Here you’re still friends with an ex. Then there’s me who was one of your best friends before we dated and I just dumped you like garbage at the curb.”

“What?” Inias pulls back slightly and tilts Anna’s chin up so that she can look him in the eye. “I don’t hate you. I never hated you. I was pretty pissed and I may have hated Ruby for like 10 minutes but you did what was right for you.” He tries to give her a reassuring smile but there are still tears pooling at the corners of his eyes.

“Really?” Anna asks as she tries to wipe some of her tears away.

“Really. Come on, I forgave you when you glued eyelashes to my Transformers when we were 7. That was way worse.”

Anna snorts and buries her head against Inias’ chest to hide her giggles. “I’d forgotten about that.”

Inias kisses the top of her head. “You were one of my best friends before we started dating. So more than anything I was just upset that you didn’t talk to me about any of it until things were going up in flames.”

“I definitely could have handled it better.” Anna says into Inias’ shirt.

“We both could have.” Inias says.

The two of them just hold each other for a couple minutes, occasionally sniffling, but mostly just enjoying the others presence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Schlond Poofa?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaEUGu7LpIs)
> 
> Come say hi to me on [tumblr](http://maliciouslycreative.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> [German Sparkle Party](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-jN3vH26NQ)
> 
>  
> 
> [Wish I Had an Angel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xPIdta_uXI)
> 
>  
> 
> Come say hi to me on [tumblr](http://maliciouslycreative.tumblr.com/). I love comments and will respond to anything so tell me what you liked, any errors, what you did today or anything really. Thanks for reading.


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